Jaipur: The eighth edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival is set to open on Wednesday, bringing a five-day banquet of literary ideas to the Pink City.

The event, which is now the world’s largest free literary festival, will see a galaxy of literary and musical stars come together for a vibrant celebration of creative expression.

Each year the festival uses literature and culture as a catalyst for debate. The event is often seen as an agenda-setter on key issues from the global economic crisis to the rise of e-books, the current state of politics in the West Asia to the increasing importance of Indian language publishing.

This year the Festival will look at gender equity in India in a series titled “Women Uninterrupted,” supported by the UN to mark the 20th anniversary of the Beijing Conference on Women.

There will also be sessions on the exile and identity of the indigenous people of Australia, the road ahead for the subcontinent as well as conversations on the contemporary status of Sanskrit and the dualistic rise of China and India.

This year, the Festival will expand beyond the four walls of Diggi Palace and will hold over 300 events in 10 venues. Bollywood actor Naseeru-ddin Shah will recite the poetry of Manto

on January 21 at Amber Fort.

Other highlights over the five-day event include Nobel Laureate V.S. Naipaul, Man Booker Prize winner Eleanor Catton, renowned travel writer Paul Theroux, legends of the silver screen Waheeda Rehman, Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi as well as leading novelists Sarah Waters, Kamila Shamsie, Amit Chaudhuri and Eimear McBride.

This year the Festival will see the announcement of three prizes, including the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature.